Almost Done…

 

Make Your Blog Reader User Friendly

I have posted before that I use Google Reader to read the blogs that I enjoy reading on a regular basis.  I love that I can read what you have written and not have to go from URL to URL looking for your latest post.

It frustrates me when I get to a certain blog article in Google Reader and can only read about 5 or 6 lines of text before I have to click to that blog’s URL to read the rest.    Does that bother you as well?

Why do people set their blog up to do that?  Because they WANT you to see all the nifty content on their blog’s full page.  All the decorations, background images, buttons, etc. do not show up on a blog reader.  Another reason why they do that is because they have monetized their blog so it helps them make money.  If you don’t go to their actual URL, they miss out on any profit they might make from you.

I enjoy reading blogs… and from time to time I DO visit the actual URL to see what your full page looks like.  And yes, I do have links to Amazon.com on my own blogs, but I would rather have you read what I wrote on a blog reader than not read it at all, which is why I don’t make you click to the full article after you read 5 or 6 lines of text.

Did you know that some people read blogs on their smart phone or other small devise? If you have your blog set up in the “short version,” it makes their life miserable when they read your blog. 

I just deleted a couple of blogs from my own Google Reader for the reasons mentioned above. 

Sorry for the rant… sometimes a thing just gets to you and you have to take a stand.  To read a great article on making your blog reader more “user friendly,”  visit Donna’s blog at  What’s Past is Prologue. 

A Non-Quilting Day

I didn’t do anything quilt-related yesterday.   Well, that’s not entirely true.  The Woodworker and I spent the day on the motorcycle.  We live in Flushing, Michigan, and hubby wanted to visit a wind farm up in the thumb of Michigan.  That meant we went by Caro, home of Merrie Miller and her new shop, Catty Wampus.   So we stopped by for a few minutes as we went through town.  SO nice to meet her! She also is a biker, so we’re hoping to get together soon to take a ride. 

This shows (kind of) where we went up into the thumb.  Marker B is Flushing, A is Caro, C is Caseville, Michigan.  We went over 240 miles yesterday, and today my body is reminding me of that.  Muscles I didn’t know I had are a little tender, but not too bad.  We went to the beach in Caseville for a brief break and to stretch our legs.

Caseville is on Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron.

Sure not getting a suntan in this picture!!!

See the turbine off in the distance behind me?  There are dozens of those all over the area in Pigeon, Michigan that generate electricity.  It’s so cool to see them all spinning!

You can see more behind the Woodworker in this shot.

On the way back we stopped for dinner in Birch Run… then headed home.  What a great day! 

Go Quilt Something

Fellow bloggers;

Either you’re writing too much too fast or I’m reading very slow.  I need to catch up with you.  Go quilt something and I’ll let you know when I’m caught up.

Carry on…

Ten Months, 110 pounds

On October 18, 2010 I had bariatric surgery via the Roux en Y bypass surgery.  The day before my surgery, my husband took a photo for me to keep as a reminder of where I started. Next to it is my picture today.

 

Some people think that having surgery is choosing the easy way out.  I strongly disagree.  Surgery is painful.  Prior to surgery I was put on a liquid-only diet for several weeks.  Then, after surgery kept up the liquid-only diet for several more weeks.  I finally advanced to soft foods like applesauce, yogurt, pudding, etc.  It was almost six weeks before I could actually chew something and feel like I was really eating again.

Quite often, people choose to have this surgery and do well for a time.  Then they start to put their weight back on.  Sometimes they don’t ever lose what they should lose following surgery because of one key factor: they weren’t ready to make a life-changing difference in the first place.  And that, my friends, is a monumental problem.

I thought about having surgery long before I decided to take this big step.  I wanted to be done – once and for all – with a weight problem that had plagued me for 30+ years.  I wanted to be healthy; truly healthy.  I wanted to be active: to play and run with my grandkids, to go hiking with my love, to enjoy our time together traveling, motorcycling, and doing all the fun things we’ve talked about for so long but couldn’t do because I wasn’t physically fit.  I was finally able to take this big step, and I was committed to it.  Totally.

Ten months later, people keep telling me how great I look.  While I enjoy hearing that, I want to make one thing perfectly clear:  I didn’t do this to get recognition for looking good.  While that is certainly a nice thing, I can’t tell you how much happier it makes me to FEEL GOOD.  Very, very good.  I feel healthy, vibrant, active, I can walk miles without getting tired, climb stairs without getting winded, and today rode 130 miles with my arms around my hubby on the back of our motorcycle.  We had a blast!

In order for this to happen, not only did I have the surgery but I had to commit to giving up food that had become (literally) a part of me. I don’t eat sweets.  I don’t eat cake, pie, cookies or candy. I eat small meals 5-6 times each day. I drink a lot of water.  I consume about 80 grams of protein every single day.  I work out with weights at the gym regularly (I shoot for 3 times a week) and try to get in at least 2.5 to 3 miles walking at least 6 days per week.  I’m not perfect, and sometimes my schedule gets in the way, but on average, this is my workout schedule. 

If you have already had surgery to help you lose weight… and if it’s not working the way you think it should,  look at the words in blue, above.  Those are critical things for being successful.  If you aren’t committed to those basic items, you will fail. YOU WILL FAIL.

You will fail your surgeon, your family, the people who love you… but most of all, you will fail yourself.

If you really want to lose weight and have considered weight loss surgery, make sure you are ready to totally change your life. 

Please believe me when I tell you that doing the steps mentioned above WILL totally change your life… for the better.

I FEEL GREAT.  I like what I see in the mirror. 

It doesn’t get much better than that.

What in the world is that?

 

Yes indeed, what in the world is this going to be?  Any guesses?

This is a part of the challenge quilt I am working on for the Evening Star Quilt Guild in Davison, Michigan.  I posted about it here.  It’s hand pieced, which I find so relaxing.  Usually.  But the gray/black fabric is hand dyed (thanks Vicki) and the other fabric is a batik, so it’s not playing nicely with my needle.  The hand dyed is fine… it’s the batik that I’m struggling with.  Oh well, it’s going to be a small quilt (although it will have a lot of small pieces in it).

Stay tuned.

What do YOU think this will be?  Post your guesses below in the comments area and whoever comes closest will get a little something in the mail from me.  If you leave a comment, make sure I can find your email address so I can contact you!

Mid August in Mid Michigan

It’s a beautiful evening in Mid Michigan.  There are big puffy clouds floating through a blue sky, hubby is mowing the lawn, Stormie is playing with her toys, and I’m shooting silly shots with my camera.  Time to post them and then cut into some gorgeous fabric and start piecing my challenge quilt.

Stormie wakes from a nap…

and immediately has to play.

with several random toys

The birdbath is surrounded by Artemisia.

My fish know when it’s time to eat.  I step on the rock that juts out over the pond, and it makes a clunking noise.  They come to the surface and know they’ll be fed.

Time to do something quilty. 

Step away from your computer and go do the same!

2011 Challenge Quilt

I’m a member of the Evening Star Quilt Guild that meets in Davison, Michigan.  This year we were given a challenge; here are the rules:

• Must be a completed (quilted and bound) 25" square quilt including a quilt label.
• You can only use a total of 2 fabrics ‐ the fat quarter given and an additional fabric of your choosing.
• You can have it quilted by another quilter if you'd like. You must give credit on the quilt label for the quilter.
• You are welcome to embellish the piece. You can use
  ribbons, beads, buttons, decorative threads, etc. Ribbons
  may not be used as a third fabric though.
• You can make your piece using any method of quilting you
  like. Applique, piecing, foundation piecing, fussy cutting,
  etc.

Everyone participating in the challenge was given a fat quarter from the same bolt of fabric.  Here is mine:

Here is the fabric I chose to go with it:

I have an idea in mind, but I need to play with it a bit before I cut.  My background fabric is a hand dyed piece created by Vicki Welch.  Vicki does fabulous work!!! Please check out her Etsy shop.  Tell her Caron sent you!
Stay tuned and I’ll share my creative process along the way. 
Today is a good day to work on this, as it’s been raining all weekend, which means that “Candy,” our new motorcycle, is staying dry in our garage.  Come on over to our house if you want to watch me pout.  Whining might also be going on.

A new Michigan quilt shop!

It's here!    Michigan has a new quilt shop, called Catty Wampus Fabrics.

 

Catty Wampus is located at

212 N. State St, Caro, MI 48723.

Their phone number is 989-672-0090. 

Though they have only been open one month, the owners have been very busy ordering, cleaning, painting and setting up their new business.  As with any new business, word of mouth and advertising are critical to future success.  We all know that a new venture such as this is extremely costly.  Quilters, would you please help do a little something to help spread the word? 

You could:

• Visit the Catty Wampus blog at at http://cattywampusfabrics.blogspot.com/
• Click to be a follower / friend on their blog
• Write your own blog post about their new shop
• Tell a friend
• Post something about their new shop on Facebook
• Tweet about the new shop
• Visit the Catty Wampus Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/CattyWampus-Fabric-Company-LLC/231417800203750 and click LIKE
• Send up a hot air balloon and drop fliers everywhere

OK, maybe that last idea is pushing the limits... but you get the idea.  Let's help quilters in the Thumb of Michigan get this new quilt shop rocking!

NOTE to people not from Michigan:  Michigan is shaped like a mitten.  We often refer to places on the mitten when talking about location.  So Catty Wampus is in the Thumb, and people living in the Thumb are also called "Trolls" because they live under the (Mackinac) bridge. 

Be sure and say hi to Murphy when you stop by. 

What is a whole-cloth quilt?

A whole-cloth quilt is made out of a backing fabric, a front (or top) fabric, and a layer of batting.  The top fabric normally is a high-quality cotton or silk in a solid color, although some whole-cloth quilts may be made from a patterned cloth. 

Sounds boring, doesn't it?   But I assure you, whole cloth quilts are anything BUT boring! 

The beauty of a whole-cloth quilt is in the quilting stitches and the design that the quilter uses to do the quilting.  Whole-cloth quilts are normally very closely quilted, and the intense quilting is 99.9 percent of their beauty.  While published patterns for whole-cloth designs exist, it is the very talented quilter who is able to design her own pattern to reflect her skills.  Designing the pattern on paper can take weeks, if not months to achieve the desired effect.  Once the pattern meets the quilter's expectations, it will be transferred onto the cloth itself.  Quilters usually use a blue washout marker, light (hard) pencil lead, or a sharpened chalk to draw on the fabric.  Use of chalk is the easiest to remove once the quilting is completed, however quilting a whole-cloth quilt takes a mammoth amount of time to finish, and by then, most if not all of the chalk may be erased by time.

Decent directions for preparing a whole-cloth quilt may be found at http://www.hgtv.com/handmade/how-to-prep-for-whole-cloth-quilting/index.html .

Below:  close-up of whole cloth quilting by Karen McTavish

,

Whitework Quilting: Creative Techniques for Designing Wholecloth and Adding Trapunto to Your Quilts. See more of Karen's work at her website: www.designerquilts.com

Whitework Quilting by Karen McTavish, published by On-Word Bound Books, has won the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in its category.

What is a Sunbonnet Sue quilt?

Sunbonnet Sue is a cute little “cartoon like” girl who has been hanging around for years on quilts.  In fact, Sunbonnet Sue was created in the late 1800’s by illustrators, and has morphed into several crazy, more modern girls/ladies in a variety of cartoons and positions. If you’d like to learn more about Sunbonnet Sue, Kim Bunchuck has a great website on the Internet dedicated to her:

http://sunbonnetsue.com

Here’s a photo of part of my Mother-in-law’s Sunbonnet Sue quilt (antique).  Sue has been appliqued to each block with a black embroidery floss using a blanket stitch, which further adds to the cartoon-like effect.

What is a Redwork Quilt?

The word "Redwork" refers to embroidery done in a red color.  The deep red embroidery floss that was used in the early days of Redwork came from Turkey, and it was a colorfast product.  Redwork is typically done on white linen or cotton, or on unbleached natural muslin. The use of a colorfast floss was necessary, as floss without the colorfast quality would run when washed (obviously not a good thing when you're using it on white fabric!). 

Ornate embroidery was part of the fussy Victorian culture of women's stitchery, and a large part of the creation of crazy quilting.  Embellishing fabric and quilts was a large part of the life of wealthy women, however redwork was adopted by and popular with people of a lower social class, especially in the United States.

Simple embroidery designs began to be seen on "penny squares," 6 inch squares of muslin that were preprinted for sewing Redwork.  Redwork designs were also printed in publications like Work Basket  and even in more modern magazines like McCall's Needle Crafts.  Primitive lettering and simple hand drawn designs are still popular today because many needle workers love their simplicity.

DMC embroidery floss is used quite often to create the Redwork for quilts.  The following colors seem to be the most popular: 

DMC 498, 817, 321 and 304. 

Books on Redwork:

  

What quilters see at a motorcycle shop

Do you see the quilting pattern?

(I think the salesman thought I was a freak for

taking these pictures… but who cares?!?!?)

What Some Quilters Do…

when they’re not stitching.

 

Oh yes I do!

What is Reverse Applique?

In this post, What is an Applique Quilt, we learned that applique was the process of adding designs by stitching fabric onto another base fabric.  Applique ADDS another layer.

Reverse applique is basically the opposite, in that it cuts through the top layer of fabric to reveal another color or layer of color hidden beneath the top layer.  I could go into great detail and write directions for you, however there is a good tutorial online that you can watch to see how it's done.  Click the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etl5HHMdjCs

The Hmong use reverse applique frequently when they create their beautifully sewn Molas.

Another example of reverse applique from Mexico.

Some good books on reverse applique:

                

What is Trapunto?

Trapunto is also called "stuffed work." When a quilter does the quilting portion of making a quilt (stitching the three layers of the quilt together), trapunto is sometimes used to make certain designs or areas of the quilting stand out a little more.  It used to be that quilters would cut a slit in the fabric and push in “wadding (cotton batting) and then sew up the slit.  Sometimes cording is used in areas where straight lines are needed to stand out more.

You can see in the closeup photo above the areas that have trapunto added. Another way to get a similar trapunto look is by including very close quilting called “stippling” around an area you want to pop out more.

The center of the yellow area, above, does not have any extra padding added. The puffiness is created by the very close, tiny stitches that surround the design, making it appear to be more raised.

Cording has been added to the fabric layers above to give a raised effect, or trapunto.  Stitching on either side of the inserted cording helps provide dimension.

Give trapunto a try sometime; add just a little bit to your quilting and see how you like it!

For more pictures of trapunto, visit Google images at http://bit.ly/nRZGJI .